Eileen Gu recovered from a fall in her first run and reached the 2026 Winter Olympics women’s slopestyle final on Saturday. The 22-year-old delivered a strong showing in her second run to secure her place in the medal event.
Gu will have her sights on winning the gold medal in slopestyle after missing out on Mathilde Gremaud at the 2022 Winter Olympics. The Chinese athlete won silver in slopestyle in Beijing, as well as gold in big air and halfpipe.
Eileen Gu Survives Scare To Make Olympic Final
Looking to get her 2026 Winter Olympics off to a strong start, Gu suffered a bit of a scare during her opening run as she fell. But a score of 75.30 on her second run secured her spot in the final.
After the event, Gu shared a selfie on her Instagram story with the caption, “Sorry for the scare lol. Needed to keep everyone on their toes (laughing, crying emoji).”
Gremaud delivered two excellent runs to secure her spot in the final. The Swiss athlete will once again be the favorite to retain her slopestyle crown. Kirsty Muir of Great Britain finished third in qualifying, followed by Team USA’s Avery Krumme.
Also competing in the free ski slopestyle final will be Han Linshan, Anni Kärävä, Megan Oldham, Naomi Urness, Lara Wolf, Giulia Tanno, Liu Mengting, and Maria Gasslitter. The women’s free ski slopestyle final will take place on Monday, with a start time of 12:30 pm local time (6:30 am EST).
Eileen Gu on Returning for Second Olympic Games
After a successful Olympic debut in 2022, Gu is determined to make an even greater impact in Milan-Cortina. The San Francisco-born athlete penned a note on Instagram, opening up about the difference between her Olympic debut and her experience at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“Coming into my second Olympics as the same person in many ways, and also changed in some others. At my core, the mission remains the same – to introduce freeskiing to more young people (especially girls), to push women’s skiing and represent it honorably on the world stage, and to enjoy this once in a lifetime experience (every Olympics is a once in a lifetime experience),” Gu wrote.
“I also come into the next few weeks with a new sense of lightness, of love for the sport, and of excitement for progression,” she added.
In addition to slopestyle, Gu will compete in the free ski big air and halfpipe events at the 2026 Winter Olympics. She will have her sights set on adding to her Olympic medal tally.
